


The Blind Date

by levi_james



Category: Glee, Glee RPF
Genre: Don't Like Don't Read, M/M, RPF, definitely did not happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-10-06 11:31:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10333727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/levi_james/pseuds/levi_james
Summary: Darren gets stood up.**Originally postedhere.This definitely did not happen and is a figment of my overactive imagination.





	

Darren can’t stop staring at the huge, untouched platter of appetizers in front of him. Huge, untouched, ridiculously expensive platter of appetizers, he would add. He looks around his table at the few other occupied tables: a young couple share tiny smiles and somewhat-awkward glances as each eats from her plate; an older couple look at each other like they built the moon and the stars just for each other, and like they have done so for the past twenty years. Call Darren a romantic, but he loves everything about them. He loves love, and he wants to see it everywhere he goes. Or, he would, except he’s too fixated on the untouched food in front of him right now. He checks his watch for probably the tenth time in a half hour and looks around him again.

“Honey, I don’t think he’s coming,” the kind-faced waitress says to him, pouring more ice water into his glass.

Darren, being the incredibly stubborn person he is, just smiles and says, “He will. He’ll be here.” _Maybe he got caught in a traffic jam. I hope he’s alright,_ he thinks. The waitress turns her head to the side and looks at him.

 _Damn, I’ve been here for over an hour,_ he thinks. He makes eye contact with the waitress and thinks, _I’ll have to leave her a double tip._ Darren looks around him again, and for the first time notices a young man sitting alone a few tables over. The man is noticeably upset, and noticeably trying to hide it.

“What’s up with him?” He wonders out loud. He frowns.

“Oh, him?” The waitress answers. “Yeah, poor guy has been waiting for his date for a while. Got stood up.” The man nurses a fruity-looking drink and is studying the menu like he is trying to memorize it. “He won’t leave. Weird, come to think of it. We generally only have someone get stood up a few times a week. Never more than one a day.”

“I’m not-” Darren tries to say but stops himself, resolve breaking. “Fine, I got stood up.” The waitress hums in agreement and starts to leave. “Wait,” he says suddenly. “Uh, if his date doesn’t show for a little longer, buy him another drink on me.” She winks at him and nods, as if she’s in on a secret plan.

It isn’t long before he notices the waitress bringing another cocktail to the man. She places it in front of him, and then Darren sees the man question it and the waitress explain it to him. Then, she says something else and points to Darren. The man turns his head and looks at Darren, who smiles and gives a little wave. The man waves back and speaks to the waitress again. Darren is becoming frustrated that he can’t hear or understand what they’re talking about, but he can tell they are definitely talking about him. The waitress says something to the man and he nods, stealing another quick glance at Darren. The waitress then walks away from the man’s table, toward Darren’s, and passes him with a wink and a small smile. Confused, Darren watches her walk away and into the kitchen. Wondering what that was about, he looks at his watch again, and then takes his phone out of his pocket. He is scrolling through notifications when looks up and realizes the man is walking towards his table. Darren stands up on instinct and smiles as the man gets closer.

“Hi,” Darren says a little sheepishly.

“Uh, hi,” the man replies, his voice high and clear. Darren feels sparks under his skin from just two syllables of speech from this man, and knows he’s in for an interesting evening.

“Thank you for the drink,” the man offers his hand. “I’m Chris.”

“I- I’m Darren. Hi,” he says and shakes Chris’s hand, fireworks blazing at the spot where their bodies meet. The sensation is not exactly painful, but also unfamiliar and unignorably present. “P-please, sit.” Chris obliges. Darren falls into his chair gracelessly and feels his cheeks warm.

“If I could I would guess that not a lot of people have the ability to make you stutter.” Chris says, voice slightly teasing but not mean. “Eliza said you were pretty slick,” Chris speaks of their waitress.

“Yeah, I don’t know where that went,” Darren admits, running his hand through his hair nervously. “Uh, here,” he moves the enormous plate of food towards Chris. “Have some.”

“Thanks, I’m starving.” Chris takes a rolled-up piece of fancy meat and cheese and eats it. “I hear you got stood up too.”

“Uh. Yeah. I guess.”

“You guess? Too cocky to even admit it, huh?” Chris grins at him. Darren wants to get upset about the unrelenting teasing, but he’s still trying to figure out how his skin could feel so on fire in the presence of this man, how all the butterflies found their way into his stomach, how his mind could be running so quickly. “Me too,” Chris goes on, apparently not noticing Darren’s current state of shock or awe or whatever this is. “Yeah, my friend Sarah set me up on a blind date and he never showed. She said he was cute. Eh, well, probably would have been a one-time thing anyway.” Chris takes a few more pieces of food, face annoyingly calm, and if he is feeling the same jolt of electricity that still buzzes in Darren’s hand, he hides it really well. _Not fair_ , Darren thinks. How can he be so composed and graceful when Darren is feeling exactly the opposite?

Darren forces his gaze from his plate to Chris, who is now looking at him expectantly. He realizes he missed something.

“Sorry, what?” He manages.

“What about you?” Chris repeats. “Who stood you up?”

It takes a moment for Darren to even know what Chris is talking about. Being concerned about his blind date not showing up feels like years ago. He honestly doesn’t even remember who set the date up. It takes him a moment to figure out how to form words again. “Uhh, blind date too.” Chris nods, face sympathetic. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Yeah, I figure what happens happens.” Chris points to the food. “You mind if I have more? I don’t want to impose.”

“No imposition,” Darren is starting to regain clarity. “Eat as much as you want.”

“Thanks, I’m starving.” Chris said. “You ordered this for the date?” Darren nods. “You haven’t even touched it.”

“It’s fine,” Darren says. He slowly begins to get a grasp on himself, and realizes how much he wants to have a real conversation with this man. He changes the subject. “So, tell me about you.”

“Uh, well, there isn’t much to tell, to tell you the truth.”

“I don’t believe that,” Darren says, getting his groove back bit-by-bit. His head still feels fuzzy but he can actually for coherent thoughts now. “What do you do? For a living?”

“Uh, I’m a writer. But I don’t know if that really counts.”

“It fucking does count. I bet you’re an amazing writer.” Darren means it.

“Hm, and how do you know that?”

“You’re definitely an awesome writer, man. I can tell.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“I just know. I want to read your work. I bet it’s fucking fantastic.”

“I don’t know about that one,” Chris replies.

Darren grins, and begins to answer Chris’s questions of his own career. There’s not much, Darren admits, but he tells Chris that the coffee shops he’s played at in Midtown tip the best but the ones in Greenwich Village and other areas in the lower west side have the most interesting people. The best place he’s played in Manhattan was on the balcony of a restaurant at night, where he could look out and see the entire city lit up. Chris smiles, this time different, more private, and it sends another spark down Darren’s spine. He diverts his eyes, suddenly finding the floor very interesting, trying to ride through the slightly-uncomfortable-but-addictive feeling that keeps coming. He doesn’t look up until Chris kicks his leg lightly under the table to get his attention. Chris smiles at him and runs his foot up and down Darren’s leg in a comforting way, which sends more lightning bolts through Darren’s body, eliciting more feelings of attraction and affection and want. That one’s new.


End file.
